


The Space Between Stardust

by Anonymous



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst and Feels, Canon Compliant, F/M, Feelings, Force Bond (Star Wars), Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rey Needs A Hug (Star Wars), Sharing A Bed (Technically)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:33:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29701314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: After an emotional day the bond flares between them, open despite how hard they try to keep each other out. Their usual animosity gives way to the truth and leaves them both with a sense of something they would rather ignore.AKA An unwanted force-bond moment post TLJ, and secrets whispered in the vulnerability of the dark.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37
Collections: Reylo Creatives: Anniversary Exchange 2021





	The Space Between Stardust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [benduo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benduo/gifts).



She’d left him, again. First in the throne room, abandoning him to suffer the consequences of the massacre they’d caused. The fire had still crackled around him, bodies strewn across the room, as he was forced to face endless questions from the subordinates that discovered the scene, with her long gone. Then a second time, shutting the door of the Falcon, a physical and metaphorical end to this unbearable thing between them.

Rey made it clear she didn’t want him, and Kylo resented her for choosing people that would never understand her, or accept all of her the way he would. He smarted at the memory of his outstretched hand, begging.

Still, he felt her there at the edge of his consciousness, like a burr caught under his clothes. The scavenger was a constant irritation to the tenuous calm he fought so hard to achieve. Kylo couldn’t blame her for all of it, his temper  _ was _ notorious, but having her at the back of his mind didn’t help one bit.

She lingered there now, her emotions heightened for some reason; in the months since their first exchange he’d figured out that the hum was loudest when one of them felt particularly emotional about something. Today seemed to be her turn — time would tell how well her control would hold.

Could she keep him out this time? Could he focus long enough to cast her from his mind before he got pulled into her gravity?

They’d done a decent job of it so far, neither sneaking past the other’s defenses since that day on Crait.

Kylo ignored the errant thought that flitted through his mind, reminding him that he didn’t truly want to avoid her, just the tension between them that tugged him in warring directions and distracted him from his mission.

He would not give in to a pair of hazel eyes, not again.

Kylo continued his day, listening to Hux drone on, and in truth if he didn’t feel so strongly about following in his grandfather’s footsteps, he worried that he might just tell that ginger pest to take over. Supreme Leader wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The whispers in his mind hadn’t stopped after he killed Snoke; he wallowed in the darkness that he tried so hard to embrace, the light cutting through and burning a hole in the fragile hold he had over his soul.

And that night, as he lay unsleeping in his behemoth bed, too large for just him, staring up at the cold white interior of the Finalizer, she materialized beside him. Her arms were crossed under her head where she lay, uncomfortably close and all too real. Kylo struggled to stop himself reaching out to her again, still smarting at her last rejection.

She seemed weary, her brow creased with displeasure, and dotted with sweat and dirt. Whatever she’d been occupied with must have been strenuous. Even so, she acted as if he wasn’t there, just inches away. Near enough to feel the heat coming off of her body.

“You did this, you know?” He said, his tone accusatory. The words grating out of his throat, gravelly and rough.

A small voice in his mind reminded him that he should be kinder, less harsh. Kylo brushed it aside. He wasn’t wrong. Not about this, and not about what they had discussed before.

“We both know this is happening. You can’t just ignore me,” he said, ire growing in his chest at her unwillingness to address him or their situation.

“ _ Watch me _ ,” she bit out between bared teeth, so similar to when she’d claimed to know everything she needed to about him, proclaiming him a monster. So be it, but she wasn’t as innocent as she acted, he knew the darkness that lurked beneath the surface of that proud, freckled face.

“Feral little scavenger,” he said, a mirthless laugh ripping through the tightness in his throat, “you never change, do you?”

Her head turned toward him at that, hazel eyes red-rimmed and blazing with anger. So untrained, so reactionary. Though the tears were not for him. This was why they were caught here, in between somewhere and nowhere, specks of dust in the ether connected by something neither of them could name.

Her mouth opened, as if she was ready to launch into a tirade, exploding all she held inside at him. Something stopped her, a pensiveness coming over her features, her face as sad as it had been that night in the hut.

“People keep telling me they know me. I’m afraid no one does,” Rey said, the vulnerability in her voice striking after the ferocity he was used to.

Kylo fought the urge to answer, his mind screaming out at her:  _ but I do.  _ He swallowed that impulse, pride sitting on his voice like a stone. Once was enough, he would not beg… he would not give in, no matter how badly he wanted to.

His hands balled into taut fists, white knuckles screaming under the strain.

“You chose this. It could have been different,” he said, his tone harsher than he’d intended again, the pain of her rejection ripping through where he’d tried so hard to hide it. “For both of us,” he whispered, and the truth of his statement hung between them like a fine mist.

She didn’t answer, just stared up at something he couldn’t see.

“What are you looking at?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him, and it seemed like a neutral question, one that wouldn’t chase her away. It was lonely on the Finalizer, even surrounded by thousands and under constant scrutiny. He knew they only saw the name, the mask… not the man.

“I’m not telling you where I am!” She protested, the frown back to hide whatever had made her cry before.

“I wasn’t asking you where you were. Don’t you get tired of always being defensive?” Kylo challenged, tired of the constant friction between them.

“I’m tired of you,” she said, pouting like a petulant child, and he wondered why she insisted on insult after insult… as if it could protect her from him, and the unwanted bond they shared.

“Fine, we’ll try a harder question. Why were you crying before?” He tried, knowing that she wouldn’t answer, slightly exhilarated by the prospect of goading her into a genuine reaction.

“Why do you care?” Rey countered, not bothering to answer him yet again.

“You know how I felt. I offered you my hand, once,” he reminded her, the edge of the memory still sharp, and he hated that it had power over him. That she had power over him.

“You know why I couldn’t take it!” She said, sitting up and turning toward him, her hair loose from its usual confinement and caught up in a slight breeze around her face. Kylo followed suit, mirroring her position, the two facing each other like that night they had touched hands.

“I won’t repeat my sentiments, not when I know how abhorrent they are to you. But I will say this: you’re too stubborn, Rey. You ignore everything you can’t bring yourself to accept… me, this  _ bond _ , the precipice that you dance across always so close to tipping over into the dark side. They might not know you, but I do,” he said and she grimaced, her face twisting in pain.

“You don’t know a  _ thing _ about me!” She hissed, seemingly enraged at the thought of it.

“I know you’re scared,” he countered and he saw the warm rage drain from her cheeks, freckles stark against her now-pale face.

“Get out of my head,” she said, her voice whisper-soft.

“You first,” he challenged, the side of his mouth quirking up into a mockery of a smile, and he wondered if she could see just how much of a burden this was.

“I don’t want this. I never wanted this,” Rey admitted and Kylo knew she was being honest for the first time tonight, to the both of them. He nodded, knowing full well what she felt, the weight of expectation hefty now that she was their new savior.

He wondered if she admitted it to them, her team, or if she reserved these doubts and secrets for here: in the stolen pockets of time outside of the roaring galaxy around them.

“I know, neither did I,” he confessed, the words uncomfortable in his mouth, wrong and blasphemous, and true.

They stared at each other as the hum around them started to fade, the connection on the verge of petering out, naked pain mirrored in the eyes of enemies.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first exchange and I was terrified to partake in it, but the Reylo Creatives Discord has been such a fantastic space that I wanted to join despite my fears.
> 
> Canon AUs are not my strong suit, but I hope that this little scene between Rey and Kylo resonates despite the open-endedness of it. I was really intrigued by the idea of a scene in the middle of all the chaos between them, and what might have been going through their minds as they prepared for a war neither of them wanted.
> 
> If you feel so inclined, do leave a comment with your thoughts and your headcanon for the time between TLJ and TROS!
> 
> And to my giftee: I really hope you like this, you're such a light in the community and I appreciate you!


End file.
